Birkhill Cottage

Birkhill House is a former laird's house of mid-18th century origin, with possible earlier fabric, set within approximately nine acres of grounds near Earlston in the Scottish Borders. The estate's history can be traced back to the 12th century, when the lands of "Birchensyde" and "Legerdeswode" were granted to Walter Stewart by Malcolm IV in 1160. Ownership was continuously recorded until 1689, when Birkenside passed to the Shillinglaw family. The property is first marked on Armstrong's Map of 1771 as a small settlement called "Birkhillside", and the Old Statistical Account of 1795 records Major Shillinglaw of Birkhillside as the only hereditary proprietor in Legerwood Parish.

The house was built in several phases and has an unusual V-shaped plan as a result. The principal south-facing section is a five-bay, two-storey, rectangular-plan block, one room deep, with evenly spaced windows set well below the eaves — a characteristic form of the laird's house type. The large distance between the tops of the first-floor windows and the eaves is unusual: three-bay 18th century houses of this type more typically have first-floor windows abutting the eaves, and this feature may indicate a building of higher status. Historical ownership information suggests this southern section may have pre-1700 origins. Adjoining it to the rear is a lower two-storey, four-bay wing added in the early to mid-19th century, which doubled the house's overall size. The 'Borders and Berwick: An Illustrated Architectural Guide' describes the house as 18th century, extended eastwards around 1850. An advertisement in the Kelso Chronicle of 12 January 1849 offered the entire Birkhillside estate for sale, which may have prompted the subsequent additions. A variety of early 20th century additions were later made to the rear.

The house is rendered with stone margins throughout. The main entrance is framed by a corniced stone doorpiece, which is in a different stone to the surrounding window and door margins and is likely to be a later modification replacing an earlier porch shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1857, published 1862). The east gable has earlier 20th century window openings. Windows are predominantly timber sash and case frames with a 12-pane glazing pattern. The roofs are pitched and slated in a mixture of graded and non-graded slate, with stone skews and shaped skewputts to the earlier southern part of the house. There are dressed sandstone gable and ridge chimney stacks.

The principal elevation evidences two different build phases. The earliest part is a two-storey, three-bay section to the left with a central doorway and smaller 12-pane windows, likely dating from the 18th century. The two-bay section to the right has the same size ground-floor windows — one of which is now a door — but the first-floor windows are taller and not aligned with those of the adjoining section. It is thought this two-bay section was originally built as a single-storey wing contemporaneously with the original house and later raised to two storeys, possibly at the same time the lower northern wing was added. The walls of the principal southern section are notably thick, and the small window openings set within them are further evidence of an early build date.

The interior was inspected in 2018. The entrance hallway has a flagstone floor and a shallow curved stone stair with a cast iron balustrade featuring alternate foliate detailing and a mahogany handrail. The proportions of the entrance hall and the shallow broad staircase are notably generous. The principal ground-floor room has decorative panelling around the main windows and a wide arched opening leading to the earlier 20th century rear addition. Most windows throughout have decorative architraves and panelled timber shutters, and there is a mixture of six- and four-panel timber doors. The first-floor landing is large and has a window overlooking the lawn to the south. A later timber stair leads to the second floor, with turned timber balusters. In the east part of the attic, a metal safe door has been inserted in place of a window opening, giving access to a roof space; the original exterior stone window surround remains visible within the roof space, evidencing the earlier external wall line. The 19th century northern wing contains a large first-floor room with a combed ceiling. This part of the house has simple stone fire surrounds with timber mantel shelves and round-arched cast iron inserts.

To the east of the house are three ranges of single-storey, rectangular-plan outbuildings arranged around a triangular courtyard, built in random rubble. The stonework of the northern range shows it was raised by approximately one foot in height early in its history. Some openings in all three ranges have been enlarged and faced with brick, and former openings have been infilled; these changes appear to date to the earlier 20th century. Some of the outbuildings were used as stables and retain timber and iron stall dividers and cast iron feeding troughs. The roofs are slated. The southern range of outbuildings is attached to the north wall of a former enclosed walled garden, with a single door connecting them to the garden; the small rubble stonework of this range suggests it is of an early date and was likely built as the gardeners' outbuildings.

Birkhill Cottage is a small two-storey building at the eastern end of the northern range of outbuildings. It is built in random rubble with a slate roof. The east elevation has an irregular window pattern with four-pane timber windows. A gabled dormer window breaking the eaves has hung slate to its sides. There are later lean-to additions at the rear. Internally it has later four-panel timber doors and a vertically boarded timber staircase.

Running along the eastern boundary of the site for approximately 300 metres is a long boundary wall built in rubble with a rounded cope, integral with the outbuildings and Birkhill Cottage. To the southeast of the house this wall rises and curves to form an arched entrance gateway dated 1826, flanked by arched pedestrian entrances. This date of 1826 may indicate the build date of some of the later additions to the property, though the lower northern wing, the courtyard outbuildings and Birkhill Cottage may alternatively have been added following the 1849 sale of the estate.

The footprint of the property has not changed significantly from that shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1857, published 1862), which depicts the house, the northern wing, the outbuildings, Birkhill Cottage and boundary wall in almost their current form. The immediate setting of the house is largely unchanged from at least the mid-19th century and possibly earlier. The house was built on the highest point of its grounds, with the south elevation commanding views over former parkland that falls away steeply to both the south and west. The first edition Ordnance Survey map also shows a sloping south-facing walled garden attached to the south range of outbuildings immediately east of the house; remnants of this survive in the planting, plan form and paths, though the wall itself is no longer standing. A sunken lawn immediately in front of the house also survives. The entrance approach, formerly entering from the southwest corner with a drive curving around the south and east boundaries, is evidenced today by a broad band of trees bordering the south of the parkland.

The detached timber stable buildings to the north of the courtyard outbuildings are excluded from the listing under Section 1(4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997, as they are considered later additions of no special interest for listing purposes.